Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaking during an interview with Argentine newspaper Clarin and Argentine state news agency Telam, in Damascus. Assad said he welcomed a US-Russian peace initiative to end Syria's civil war but had no plans to resign.(AFP Photo / SANA)

Syrian President Bashar Assad has welcomed the proposed peace talks for Syria agreed by Russia and the US, but voiced his skepticism about their prospects for success, saying that many forces don't really want to see a solution.

Speaking to Argentine newspaper Clarin and Telam news agency in
Damascus, Assad said that “believing that a political conference
will stop terrorism on the ground is unreal.”

Washington and Moscow have been at odds since the beginning of
the Syrian crisis, but are now aiming to find common ground as they
push for talks to take place between Assad’s regime and the
opposition. If the efforts are successful, there are hopes that
talks could take place at the end of this month and could lead to a
multilateral summit.

“We welcome the Russian-US rapprochement and hope that an
international meeting will take place to help the Syrians overcome
the crisis ,” he said. “But we don’t think that a lot of
Western nations really want to see a solution in Syria. And we
don’t think that those many forces that help the terrorists want a
solution to the crisis.”

As world powers lock horns over the Syrian conflict, Assad
stressed that foreign states will not act as decision-makers in the
crisis and any decision about reform in Syria will come from
within.

He specifically addressed US Secretary of State John Kerry, who
stated that Assad could play a major role in achieving peace by
stepping down.

“I wonder how Kerry or anyone else has received a mandate
from the Syrian people to decide whether someone should stay or go.
Any decision about reforms in Syria will come from Syria, and
neither the US nor any other state can intervene,” he
stated.

Assad also reassured that he will not forsake his duty or his
responsibilities. “

The captain does not flee his ship during a storm. The first
thing he does is face the storm and guide the ship back to
safety ," he said. "

I am not someone who flees from my responsibilities." The
president stated once again that he was open to dialogue,
maintaining that he wanted what was best for the Syrian people.
However he underlined that there would be no dialogue with
terrorists.

“Terrorism struck the United States and Europe – of course no
government is willing to negotiate with terrorists. A dialogue with
political force, but not with a terrorist who decapitates, murders
and uses toxic gases which are chemical weapons,” he
stated.

The Syrian civil war has been raging for more than two years
now, with more than 80,000 people killed, according to UN
estimates.